Thirty-One Middle and High School Students Named National Endowment for the Humanities Scholars at 2015 National History Day

And the winners are…..

It should be known without being said that all National History Day competitors are distinguished scholars, even if they do not receive a medal. Nearly 3,000 students competed in College Park, MD, this week in the annual event that is the culmination of a year-long academic program in which students in grades 6-12 conduct original historical research for papers, exhibits, websites, documentaries, and public performances. Each year more than 600,000 students compete in local, regional and state competitions for a chance to win a spot at the national finals.

NEH has been a supporter of National History Day since the program began in 1965. In addition to sponsoring sixteen National History Day awards for first place submissions across a range of categories, NEH also awards a National History Day prize for the best use in a student project of Chronicling America —a searchable online database of historic newspapers produced and maintained through a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress. EDSITEment, NEH’s educational website, also created a set of online resources around Chronicling America to assist students and educators in using the newspapers in historical research.

“History matters and your participation matters”— NEH Chairman Adams said in the opening remarks of the NHD awards ceremony to a room full of eager young historians.

Chairman William Adams presented sixteen National History Day awards sponsored by NEH for first place submissions across a range of categories as well as the Chronicling America Special Prize.

The following students were named National Endowment for the Humanities Scholars at the 2015 National History Day ceremony. (Students in grades 6-8 compete in the “junior” division; those in grades 9-12 in the “senior” division.)

See full awards ceremony photos on Facebook

JUNIOR GROUP EXHIBIT:

Title: Rose Valland: Recovering Stolen Culture in France

Students: Madeleine  Zemans, Sophia Datta, Thani Greco, Singapore American School, Singapore, IS-SA

JUNIOR GROUP DOCUMENTARY:

Title: Henry Ford: Driving America Into the Future

Students: Frances Kroll, Michelle Kroll, Sierra Vista Middle School, Irvine, CA

JUNIOR INDIVIDUAL DOCUMENTARY:

Title: A Legacy of Love and Laughter: Robert Porterfield's Barter Theatre

Students: Mia Lazar, Blacksburg New School, Blacksburg, VA

JUNIOR INDIVIDUAL EXHIBIT:

Title: Nelson Mandela: Leadership in the Fight Against Apartheid

Students: Tate Hogrefe, Lemars Middle School, Lemars, IA

JUNIOR PAPER:

Title: Margaret Sanger

Students: Caroline Katzive, Alice Deal Middle School, Washington, DC

JUNIOR INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE:

Title: Victory at All Costs: The Leadership and Legacy of Winston Churchill

Students: Jay Mehta, Pembroke Hill School, Kansas City, MO

JUNIOR GROUP PERFORMANCE:

Title: The Brothers Grimm: How Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Led the Movement to Preserve Culture and Created a Legacy of Literature

Students: Samantha Penny, Clancy Penny, McCollough Perry, Lillian Ward, Grace Bowen, Classical Scholars, Hendersonville, NC

JUNIOR INDIVIDUAL WEBSITE:

Title: The Seeing Eye

Students: Neha Shakir, Hamilton High School, Chandler, AZ

JUNIOR GROUP WEBSITE:

Title: Jacqueline Cochran: Flying Towards the Future

Students: Grace McDonald, Hannah Mackenzie, Spring View Middle, Rocklin, CA

SENIOR GROUP EXHIBIT:

Title: "Them Damned Pictures": The Legendary Cartoons of Thomas Nast

Students: Watson Moore, Sam Katz, Brian Johnson, Shaker Heights High School, Shaker Heights, OH

SENIOR INDIVIDUAL EXHIBIT:

Title: David E. Pesonen: The Battle for Bodega Head

Students: Stacey Olson, Sonoma Academy, Santa Rosa, CA

SENIOR PAPER:

Title: Socialism with a Human Face: The Leadership and Legacy of the Prague Spring

Students: Anna Stoneman, Stanford University Online High School, Madison, WI

SENIOR INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE:

Title: Resisting the Reins Of Power: Washington At His Finest In The Temple Of Virtue

Students: Matthew Broussard, Impact Early College High School, Baytown, TX

SENIOR GROUP PERFORMANCE:

Title: A Terrible Beauty is Born: The Leadership of James Connolly and Patrick Pearse and the Controversial Legacy of the Easter Rising

Students: Isabella Altherr, Annabel Barry, Quinn Barry, Maxwell Chung, Shannon Madden, Pequot Homeschool, Southport, CT

SENIOR INDIVIDUAL WEBSITE:

Title: Alan Turing's Mechanical Brain

Students: Cody Baker, Storm Lake High School, Storm Lake, IA

SENIOR GROUP WEBSITE:

Title: To Learn or to Earn? The National Child Labor Committee and the Fight Against Child Exploitation

Students: Divya Pakianathan, Niharika Boinpally, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North,Plainsboro, NJ

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspaper Prize:

Ribbons: 224 students are receiving ribbons for using Chronicling America resources this year. 124 are in the junior division; 100 in the senior.

Special Prize winners are:

Junior Group Documentary

Title: Fred Gray -- The Man Who Destroyed Everything Segregated He Could Find

Jessica Connelly & Caroline Turochy & Sydney Smith, Auburn History Club, Auburn, AL

Senior Group Exhibit

Title: Oklahoma's Good Angel

Linzy Woods & Justice Tautfest, Canton High School, Canton, OK

The HISTORY Channel sponsored prizes for Senior Group Documentary and Senior Individual Documentary. Winners in other categories received prizes from a host of other sponsors. A list of all 2015 National History Day finalists and winners is available at: http://www.nhd.org/contest-affiliates/contest-winners/